Girdle band construction



p 17, 1963 M. K. SHEA 3,401,699

GIRDLE BAND CONTRUCTION Filed Jan. 26. 1966 FIG.] FIG.2

" ATTORNEYS V United States Patent 3,401,699 GIRDLE BAND CONSTRUCTIONMadeline K. Shea, 170 Connecticut Ave., Freeport, N.Y. 11520 Filed Jan.26, 1966, Ser. No. 523,112 7 Claims. (Cl. 128-536) ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE A girdle construction in which the lower edge is providedwith a double thickness of stretch material (pref erably two-waystretch) of substantial vertical width and extending around the entire,or almost the entire, bottom edge of the girdle to form a zone whichfirmly grips the wearers body without cutting or creasing it and anchorsthe girdle against tendencies to ride up.

This invention relates to a girdle construction and particularly to theprovision of a special feature therein, adaptable for use with anygirdle which exhibits, on certain wearers, a tendency to ride up, saidspecial feature being adapted to overcome such tendencies.

In the present advanced state of development of this art the basicproblems of figure control may be regarded as satisfactorily solved-formost figures-by garments of various designs, differing in countlessdetails including the arrangement of panels, the distribution of one-wayand two-way stretch areas, the outline of the top and bottom edges, etc.It is still true, however, that an otherwise satisfactory girdle,especially when worn without garters, will ride up and require constantdownward adjustment. To attempt to solve this by simply increasing thetension around the bottom edge frequently causes irritation, discomfortand marking of the flesh with unsightly welts.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a structure whichhas the effect of increased tension without any of the disadvantages,this comprising specifically a double band of horizontal-stretch or,more particularly, two-way stretch material combined with orconstituting at least a substantial portion of the lower edge of thegirdle or the entire lower edge thereof.

Practical embodiments of the invention are shown in the drawing,wherein:

FIG. 1 represents a front elevational view of a girdle, laid flat andunstretched;

FIG. 2 represents a back view of the same girdle;

FIG. 3 represents a detail vertical section On the line III-Ill Of FIG.1;

FIG. 4 represents a detail vertical section on the line IV-IV of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an alternate embodiment representing a front elevational viewof a girdle, laid fiat and unstretched;

FIG. 6 represents a back view of the girdle shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 represents a detail vertical section on the line VII-VII of FIG.5;

FIGS. 8' and 9 represent detail vertical sections, similar to FIG. 7,but "showing further alternate embodiments.

Referring to the drawings, FIG. 1 shows a girdle having a main section10 running completely around the back and terminating in the frontwhereit is joined to a front panel 12 by the stitching 14. The. front panel12, which may be formed of two separate panels joined by the stitching16, is stretchable in a vertical direction and resists stretch in ahorizontal direction. Alternatively, the front panel 12 may be made ofnonelastic material. The main section 10, on the other hand, isstretchable in a horizontal direction or in both a vertical andhorizontal direcice tion. The front panel 12 is full length while themain section 10 is shortened at its lower end as illustrated.

In order to resist the tendency for the girdle to ride up on the user, adouble band, indicated generally at 18, is affixed to the lower edge ofthe girdle. As shown in the drawings, the double band 18, secured to themain section 10 by the stitching 20, extends from one side of the frontpanel 12 around the back and terminates adjacent the other side of thefront panel 12 where it is afiixed thereto by the stitching 22. Asindicated on the drawings, the double band 18 is made from a piece ofhorizontally and vertically stretchable material which is folded back onitself at 24 (FIG. 3) to define an inside and outside band 26 and 28,respectively. Alternatively, the double band 18 may be made of materialstretchable only in a horizontal direction. As shown in FIG. 3, theupper edge of the outside band 28 is stitched to the outside of the mainsection 10 at 20 while the upper edge of the inside band 26 is stitchedto the inside of the main section 10 at 30. Since, as will behereinafter described, it is the double band 18 and its location at thelower edge of the garment which prevents riding up, it will beunderstood that the specific double band arrangement in FIG. 3 is notcritical and that various other ways of forming the double band may beemployed. Some of these alternate arrangements will be described indetail in connection with FIGS. 8 and 9.

Riding up of the girdle on the user is often caused by stretching andincrease in the circumference at the lower edge of the girdle. Accordingto the present invention, the double band 18 at the lower edge of thegirdle functions to increase the resistance to stretching at thiscritical area. In comparing single and double bands of the same width,it will be evident that the double band requires more tension or appliedforce to stretch while at the same time, because of the doublethickness, the elastic restraining force is distributed over a greatertotal cross sectional area of band material to thereby diminish theconcentration thereof on the user. Thus, with a double band, the greaterforce required to stretch it will reduce the tendency for the girdle toride up. Also, since the force ns distributed on overlapping bands, theouter band reinforces the inner band in a manner to limit the elasticrestraining force applied to the user.

The front panel 12 of FIG. 1 may have its lower edge doubled over andstitched at 32 as shown in FIG. 4 to increase the strength of the frontpanel and prevent curling or bunching up. Also the back of the mainsection 10 may have a reinforcing panel 34 stitched in place as shown inFIG. 2. The reinforcing panel may be of varied shape or material, eitherelastic or nonelastic. Alternatively, the reinforcing panel 34 may bedispensed with. A vertical panel (similar to the front panel 12) may beused at the rear of the garment. Thus, the rear would look like thefront as illustrated in FIG. 1 wherein both front and rear verticalpanels extend to the bottom edge of the garment where they are joined atthe lower side portions by two double bands of horizontal or two-waystretch material, one on either side of the garment extending from thefront to the rear panel. This latter arrangement has been found to bequite comfortable to the user. The front and rear panels may be ofvertical stretch or they may be nonelastic.

In the alternate embodiment of FIGS. 5-7, a front panel, rear panel, andreinforcing back panel are not used. The main section 35 of the girdleis formed as an endless tubular sheet of horizontal stretch or two-waystretch material. The double band 18a, which is stretchable in ahorizontal direction but resists stretching in a vertical direction, isformed as an endless band and is afiixed to the lower edge of the mainsection 35 by the stitching 36.

band is formed by n the main body 35 between the edgesof the doubleband,

the three edges being stitched together as shown-,at 36. Alternatively,the double band 18a may be 'two-way stretchable as in the FIG. 1embodiment.

In FIG. 8 the double band 18b is stitched at 37 and 38 to the inside ofthe lower end portion of the main body 35b'to form what is, in effect, atriple band. FIG. 9 is similar to FIG. 8 except that the double band 180is stitched to the outside of the main section 350 as indicated at 40and 42.

The circumference of the double band depends'on the degree of elasticitywhich is needed to ensure comfort while preventing any .ridingup. Thedouble band may be horizontally and verticallystretchable or justhorizontally stretchable.Also it may be made from two pieces instead ofa,s ingle Pie e fold'ed overonitself although the preferred form-spse' afolded strip so that the bottom edge has no seamor hemto press into theskin.

Although several embodiments have been described in detail it willbe'u'nderstoodthat various modifications and combinations may beemployed and also additional featuresaded; Thus, attachedor detachablegarters may be used-on the girdle or a zippered closing may be employed.Various combinations of two-way, one-Way, or n'onstretch panels alongwith various types of waist bands may be employed. The front panel 12may be full length as in FIG. 1 or it may terminate short of the loweredge of the main section with the double band extended below the itattractive to users who desire to go barelegged when tan? , It will beunderstood that various changes may be made in the formfconstruction andarrangement of the several Partswithout departing from the spiritandscope of the invention and hence I do not intend to be limited to thedetails shown or described herein except as the same are included in theclaims or may be required by disclosures of the prior art.

What I claim is: 1 I 1. A garment such as a girdle or the like,comprising a body encircling portion which is at least in partcircumferentially elastic, and a separate double band of substantialvertical width which-is made of two-layers of front panel. As previouslymentioned, a rear panel may 7 the garment.

, two-way stretch material aflixed to the lower edge of said bodyencircling portion, the outer layer of said double band reinforcing theinner layer thereof to increase the amount of tension required tocircumferentially stretch the double band while distributing the elasticrestraining force applied to the user, said double band therebyresisting upward movement of the garment Q11 the user without adverselyaffecting comfort.

2. A garment accordingtoclaim 1 wherein said double band is a strip ofmaterial folded over on itself.

3. A garment according to claim 1 wherein said double band extends belowtheterminating lower edge of said body encircling portion.

r 4. A garmentaccording to claim 1 wherein lower edge of said bodyencircling. portion is accommodated between the two. bands of the doubleband.

1- 5. Agarment according to claim 1 wherein said double band extendsabobtthe complete lower circumference of 6.=A garment according to claim1 wherein said double band is superimposed on the inside of the lowerend section of saidbody encircling portion.

- 7 A garment according to claim 1 wherein said double band issuperimposed on the outsideof the lower end section of said bodyencircling portion.

while affording comfort to the user,,The arrangement provides for greatflexibility of use 'whereby the invention may by used on variousgarments and may even be attached coexisting garments.,Yariouslyarranged panels having ditferent elastici properties; may beused on the garment to afford efiicacy and-comfort iri'all'areas withoutadversely affecting the applicability jof the presentinvention. Since.thegarmentlof ithis" invention 'does not ride up, it may beworri'without garters thereby making References Cited UNITED STATESPATENTS 1,751,506 3/1930 Bowne 128-536 2,684,482 7/1954 Rutledge 12s 5553,060,938 10/1962 Kattermann et al 128 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,121,280 4/1956France.

ADELE M. EAGER, Primary Examiner.

